Minister Sirsa: AAP polluting deliberately
New Delhi: A blame game erupted between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday over the worsening pollution in the national capital, with Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accusing AAP of abandoning the city after ruling it for over a decade, a charge the opposition party strongly denied.
Sirsa alleged, “AAP is deliberately burning waste at various locations to create pollution and they are unconcerned about public health.” He urged former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to stop such activities, saying he had been informed by the Trilokpuri MLA that an AAP councillor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was seen burning garbage in his constituency and filming it.
Responding to the allegations, AAP said Sirsa had a “habit of indulging in lies and fraud”. The party alleged, “Since assuming charge as environment minister, Sirsa had manipulated AQI readings by shutting down monitoring systems and spraying water on AQI stations to create a false narrative.”
Calling the allegation about garbage burning “yet another lie”, AAP said if the minister had any evidence, he should lodge an FIR or refrain from making what it termed “fake claims”.
Sirsa, however, continued his attack, saying those who ruled Delhi for 10 to 12 years and “gifted the city the disease of pollution” were now protesting against the problem they had created. He alleged that the city was left buried under garbage mountains and smog, while the same leaders were now projecting themselves as saviours.
The minister said,” The current government is addressing the crisis on a daily basis, working hotspot by hotspot, landfill by landfill and industry by industry, and claimed it was correcting the damage done over the past 10 to 15 years.”
He also said the earlier governments had identified only 13 pollution hotspots while the present dispensation has identified 62 traffic congestion hotspots and initiated focused interventions. Delhi Labour Minister Kapil Mishra also criticised the previous government, saying the kind of politics being practised was not appropriate for the national capital.
